You can expect lots of new bills to hit the Commons over the next few weeks, and this coming one is no exception.

Boris Johnson is enshrining into law his commitment to raise NHS spending over the next four years. But like the promise not to extend trade talks with the EU it’s a purely symbolic move. After all, if he wants to go back on his word, all he has to do is repeal the law.

Select committee chairs also get decided this week.

Nominations close on Monday, and MPs vote on Wednesday.

An interesting trend is former Cabinet ministers putting themselves forward. Jeremy Hunt wants to chair the health committee, and Greg Clark is going for science and technology. You’ve also got Stephen Crabb hoping for Welsh affairs and Karen Bradley running for procedure.

It makes sense career-wise, because these are prestigious roles (with a hefty pay rise), and none of them are likely to be returning to Cabinet any time soon.

Have a great week, and in the meantime feel free to tweet me or just reply to this email.

MONDAY 27 JANUARY

TUESDAY 28 JANUARY

Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Bill – committee and remaining stagesApplies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Allows the government to pay subsidies to farmers through 2020. These replace existing EU subsidies which end after Brexit. After this, the government plans to introduce a new system that calculates payments based on “public goods” produced (e.g. improving air quality or tackling climate change) instead of how much land is being farmed.Draft bill